The Hollywoodbets Sharks can sew up the South African Shield when they take on the Lions on Saturday, but they acknowledge that this match holds their primary focus, and if they keep this Vodacom United Rugby Championship derby clash front of mind, the rest will take care of itself.
Hollywoodbets Sharks prop Vincent Koch admitted as much this week when he said, “We haven’t even spoken about the Shield, the reality we’re looking at is where we are on the log and what our goal is to get into the top 8.
“For us, the next two games – against the Lions and Vodacom Bulls – are massively important for us to move up the log, because we know that two good outcomes in the next two weeks will push us into a better spot than we are at the moment.”
There was a period when the tournament took a brief hiatus, but the action returns now after the back-to-back victories against the DHL Stormers and then time to relax in preparation for the next block of matches.
“After a two-week break when we had some good family time and were able to clear our minds after a big period of rugby, we came together refocused. It was a time coach JP and the coaches set our next goals, we have two games now and we’re focused on what we can do better.
“Against the DHL Stormers, there were some good things, a huge team effort that showed the growth of the team, but also some work-ons and we’ve spent the last few days working on how we can do better and prepping for the big game on Saturday.
“We’re fresh now, those two games were mentally and physically draining and the break we had was important.”
Talking about the team’s recent turn-about strategy, Koch explained that, “I think the change is that we just play for each other; when coach JP came in, he spoke about what the jersey means and to play for each other.
“We’re starting to build a nice culture of caring for each other. For us, it’s about being closer to one another: if we’re closer off the field, you’ll fight harder on the field. You can clearly see the boys are fighting, chasing seemingly lost causes and you can see the love for each other.
“That’s been a stand-out thing, you can see the enjoyment and freedom the boys are playing with, they’re playing without fear because there’s no pressure on players.
“When coach JP stepped in, he took all that pressure away and allowed us to play with freedom.”
As always, some part of the team’s preparation is analysis of the opposition, but Koch explained that the team are focused on themselves and how they can improve. That doesn’t detract from his team’s respect for their fellow South Africans.
“We haven’t really looked at the Lions, the reality is that they beat us at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in the first game, so while the last few results haven’t gone their way, they’re still confident.
“They’re a strong franchise with good players and coaches and we know this is going to be a very tough match. They also want to qualify for the play-offs and they’ve had a good start, so we know what’s coming.”